The USC Foundation completed a study for the Water Research Foundation in 2002 entitled, “Impacts of Cross-Connections in North American Water Supplies.” The objective of the study was to assess the impacts of cross-connection and cross-connection control in North America.

Over 700 water utilities participated in this study, 91% were found to have a cross-connection control program.

700
water utilities

$44,835
spent
annually

3.65%
agencies
budget

91%
have
programs

The Summary and Conclusion Section includes the following: No geographic trends were found in North America in relation to the type of cross-connections being experienced. Indirect cross-connections account for 65% of the cross-connections while 35% are direct cross-connections.

The North American survey data indicates that more and more agencies developed programs over the last three decades. As more agencies developed programs, more incidents were reported. Therefore, the reporting of incidents has continually increased since 1975.

It is important, however, to note that the average number of incidents being reported per agency does not significantly change. This suggests that the number of incidents per utility is not necessarily changing over time, but that reporting is becoming more prevalent as agencies develop cross-connection control programs. The overall average cost for all sizes of water utilities is $44,835 spent annually on administering the cross-connection control program. On the average, 3.65% of the agencies’ operations and maintenance budget were directed towards cross-connection control.

The report is available at IWA Publishing and has a list price of $216.00. Unfortunately, the report is unavailable at the USC Foundation.